Posts tagged ‘revolution’

Saw Tacocat again last night at Shea Stadium. Would either like them to move to Brooklyn or for there to be lots more feminist stoner pop-punk bands with songs about UTIs and vaporizers and “Waterworld” and psychotic cats and wearing a leotard on a date “because I only wanna take it so far.” After the revolution, they will be more famous than Green Day.

I love Judy for many reasons but especially because she says “after the revolution.”

“Completely transformed from passive wimps, afraid of blood or danger or guns, satisfied with the limitations set on us by hated relationships with men, we became revolutionary women—whole people struggling in every way, at every level, to destroy the dying pig system that has tried to keep us and the rest of its leadership under its total control.”—Susan Stern, “With the Weathermen: The Personal Journal of a Revolutionary Woman.”

On the morning of June 16, 1976, thousands of students from the African township of Soweto, outside Johannesburg, gathered at their schools to participate in a student-organized protest demonstration. Many of them carried signs that read, ‘Down with Afrikaans’ and ‘Bantu Education – to Hell with it;’ others sang freedom songs as the unarmed crowd of schoolchildren marched towards Orlando soccer stadium where a peaceful rally had been planned.

The crowd swelled to more than 10,000 students. En route to the stadium, approximately fifty policemen stopped the students and tried to turn them back. At first, the security forces tried unsuccessfully to disperse the students with tear gas and warning shots. Then policemen fired directly into the crowd of demonstrators. Many students responded by running for shelter, while others retaliated by pelting the police with stones.

That day, two students, Hastings Ndlovu and Hector Pieterson, died from police gunfire; hundreds more sustained injuries during the subsequent chaos that engulfed Soweto. The shootings in Soweto sparked a massive uprising that soon spread to more than 100 urban and rural areas throughout South Africa.

The immediate cause for the June 16, 1976, march was student opposition to a decree issued by the Bantu Education Department that imposed Afrikaans as the medium of instruction in half the subjects in higher primary (middle school) and secondary school (high school). Since members of the ruling National Party spoke Afrikaans, black students viewed it as the “language of the oppressor.” Moreover, lacking fluency in Afrikaans, African teachers and pupils experienced first-hand the negative impact of the new policy in the classroom.

The Soweto uprising came after a decade of relative calm in the resistance movement in the wake of massive government repression in the 1960s. Yet during this “silent decade,’ a new sense of resistance had been brewing. In 1969, black students, led by Steve Biko (among others), formed the South African Student’s Organization (SASO). Stressing black pride, self-reliance, and psychological liberation, the Black Consciousness Movement in the 1970s became an influential force in the townships, including Soweto. The political context of the 1976 uprisings must also take into account the effects of workers’ strikes in Durban in 1973; the liberation of neighboring Angola and Mozambique in 1975; and increases in student enrollment in black schools, which led to the emergence of a new collective youth identity forged by common experiences and grievances (Bonner).

Though the schoolchildren may have been influenced by the Black Consciousness Movement of the 1970s, many former pupils from Soweto do not remember any involvement of outside organizations or liberation movements in their decision to protest the use of Afrikaans at their schools. In his memoir, Sifiso Ndlovu, a former student at Phefeni Junior Secondary School in Soweto, recalls how in January 1976 he and his classmates had looked forward to performing well in their studies but noted how the use of Afrikaans in the classroom significantly lowered their grades. (Hirson 175-77; Brooks and Brickhill 46) Echoing Ndlovu, current Member of Parliament Obed Baphela recalled: “It was quite difficult now to switch from English to Afrikaans at that particular point and time.” [Watch Bapela video segment] The firing of teachers in Soweto who refused to implement the Afrikaans language policy exacerbated the frustration of middle school students, who then organized small demonstrations and class boycotts as early as March, April and May (Ndlovu).

also, here’s the thing about Afrikaans - it’s a language that’s spoken ONLY in South Africa. so not only is it the language of the oppressor, by mandating that black children would only be taught in Afrikaans (or that major subjects be taught in Afrikaans, i think things like art were still allowe to be taught in English and/or indigenous languages), they were effectively attempting to isolate Black South Africans TO South Africa. And to keep the outside world from them.

So, there is this shop in Hamilton, called Bra-Makers’ Supply, which is where I learned how to make my bra. (They offer a full menu of stuff: basic bra classes, partial-band bras, vertical seam bras, classes on making panties, swimwear, corsets, AND classes on fitting, drafting and design for people who want to get into that sort of stuff professionally.)

And for people who can’t go to their shop to take classes, the owner, Beverley Johnson, wrote up bra-making manuals that describe bra construction. It’s pretty rad; I’m thinking of getting the full manual myself. There’s also a sequel book.

There’s not much out there on just bras… apparently it’s packaged as part of some fashion classes? But there’re very few classes dedicated to focusing on bras. So.

BOOKMARK IT, PEOPLES! IT MIGHT BE A VERY NIFTY CHRISTMAS PRESENT FOR A SEWING ENTHUSIAST!

This is less exciting than how to do MVA abortions as a group of us did last week, but come the revolution, an important skill. I spent most of yesterday being stabbed with an underwire and was forced to day drink as a consequence.

This was a speech given August 15 1970 by Huey Newton co-founder of the Black Panther Party..here he addresses the issue of Gay Rights… Its serious food for thought coming in the aftermath of President Obamaendorsing Same-sex Message…

During the past few years strong movements have developed among women and among homosexuals seeking their liberation. There has been someuncertainty about how to relate to these movements.

Whatever your personal opinions and your insecurities abouthomosexuality and the various liberation movements among homosexualsand women (and I speak of the homosexuals and women as oppressedgroups), we should try to unite with them in a revolutionary fashion.I say ” whatever your insecurities are” because as we very well know,sometimes our first instinct is to want to hit a homosexual in themouth, and want a woman to be quiet. We want to hit a homosexual inthe mouth because we are afraid that we might be homosexual; and wewant to hit the women or shut her up because we are afraid that shemight castrate us, or take the nuts that we might not have to startwith.

We must gain security in ourselves and therefore have respect andfeelings for all oppressed people. We must not use the racist attitudethat the White racists use against our people because they are Blackand poor. Many times the poorest White person is the most racistbecause he is afraid that he might lose something, or discoversomething that he does not have. So you’re some kind of a threat tohim. This kind of psychology is in operation when we view oppressedpeople and we are angry with them because of their particular kind ofbehavior, or their particular kind of deviation from the establishednorm.

Remember, we have not established a revolutionary value system; we areonly in the process of establishing it. I do not remember our everconstituting any value that said that a revolutionary must sayoffensive things towards homosexuals, or that a revolutionary shouldmake sure that women do not speak out about their own particular kindof oppression. As a matter of fact, it is just the opposite: we saythat we recognize the women’s right to be free. We have not said muchabout the homosexual at all, but we must relate to the homosexualmovement because it is a real thing. And I know through reading, andthrough my life experience and observations that homosexuals are notgiven freedom and liberty by anyone in the society. They might be themost oppresed people in the society.

And what made them homosexual? Perhaps it’s a phenomenon that I don’tunderstand entirely. Some people say that it is the decadence ofcapitalism. I don’t know if that is the case; I rather doubt it. Butwhatever the case is, we know that homosexuality is a fact thatexists, and we must understand it in its purest form: that is, aperson should have the freedom to use his body in whatever way hewants.

That is not endorsing things in homosexuality that we wouldn’t view asrevolutionary. But there is nothing to say that a homosexual cannotalso be a revolutionary. And maybe I’m now injecting some of myprejudice by saying that “even a homosexual can be a revolutionary.”Quite the contrary, maybe a homosexual could be the mostrevolutionary.

When we have revolutionary conferences, rallies, and demonstrations,there should be full participation of the gay liberation movement andthe women’s liberation movement. Some groups might be morerevolutionary than others. We should not use the actions of a few tosay that they are all reactionary or counterrevolutionary, becausethey are not.

We should deal with the factions just as we deal with any other groupor party that claims to be revolutionary. We should try to judge,somehow, whether they are operating in a sincere revolutionary fashionand from a really oppressed situation. (And we will grant that if theyare women they are probably oppressed.) If they do things that areunrevolutionary or counterrevolutionary, then criticize that action.If we feel that the group in spirit means to be revolutionary inpractice, but they make mistakes in interpretation of therevolutionary philosophy, or they do not understand the dialectics ofthe social forces in operation, we should criticize that and notcriticize them because they are women trying to be free. And the sameis true for homosexuals. We should never say a whole movement isdishonest when in fact they are trying to be honest. They are justmaking honest mistakes. Friends are allowed to make mistakes. Theenemy is not allowed to make mistakes because his whole existence is amistake, and we suffer from it. But the women’s liberation front andgay liberation front are our friends, they are our potential allies,and we need as many allies as possible.

We should be willing to discuss the insecurities that many people haveabout homosexuality. When I say “insecurities,” I mean the fear thatthey are some kind of threat to our manhood. I can understand thisfear. Because of the long conditioning process which builds insecurityin the American male, homosexuality might produce certain hang-ups inus. I have hang-ups myself about male homosexuality. But on the otherhand, I have no hang-up about female homosexuality. And that is aphenomenon in itself. I think it is probably because malehomosexuality is a threat to me and female homosexuality is not.

We should be careful about using those terms that might turn ourfriends off. The terms “faggot” and “punk” should be deleted from ourvocabulary, and especially we should not attach names normallydesigned for homosexuals to men who are enemies of the people, such asNixon or Mitchell. Homosexuals are not enemies of the people.

We should try to form a working coalition with the gay liberation andwomen’s liberation groups. We must always handle social forces in themost appropriate manner.

“You won’t catch me on the barricades for a male-led revolution. Women have been pulling that strip for centuries. We’ve bled for them and have gotten nothing. Nothing. This time women are going to make history and make things different.”

The site reports that Frances Bean Cobain has taken over control of the publicity rights for her dad’s name, likeness and appearance.

I broke my Girls-free zone and now I’m breaking the Courtney-free zone because I think little Bean is going to turn out fine and a part of my that has felt anxious and helpless for years just relaxed a little bit.